Refinished Kitchen Table

We have had our kitchen table for almost 8 years now, and our kids have not always been kind to it. You can see some of the damage in the pictures below, but trust me it looked much worse in person.

My first thought was to refinish the table and chairs, but we only had 4 chairs for the table and we really wanted to have 6. Instead of buying an entire new set I decided purchase chairs and refinish the table we had. I ordered 3 sets of the American Simplicity X-Back Chairs from Target and went from there.

I used a hand sander and 60 grit sandpaper to remove the finish from the table. Once the finish was removed I wiped the table down with a damp towel and sanded it with 100 grit sandpaper to smooth the surface. Since I was staining the table and not painting it, I sanded it one more time with 150 grit sandpaper. 

Once I had completed sanding, I applied Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner with a clean cloth. This is supposed to prevent blotchiness when applying the stain. Is it a necessary step? I honestly don't know, but I was happy with the finished product.

I applied Minwax Wood Finish Red Mahogany 225 Stain to achieve the same color as the chairs I had. I have to admit after the first application of stain I had a moment of panic where I thought the color of the table would never match the chairs. Thankfully after 2 more applications of stain I was happy with the color.

For protection I used Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane in Clear Satin. I brushed on 2 layers of the polyurethane and sanded with 400 grit sandpaper in between the layers. At this point I was not happy with the finish. It was shinier than I wanted and I could see some brush marks.

To remedy this I used Minwax Water Based Polycrylic Aerosol in Clear Satin. After 2 applications of the aerosol I was very pleased the finish. I let the finish dry for 4 days before bringing the table back into the house. I just wanted to make sure the poly had a chance to really set up before I let my kids near it. 

I think the new color of table and the new chairs totally changed the look of the dining space in our kitchen. We have been using the refinished table for 2 months now and the finish is holding up great!


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